A winning Hoosier Lotto ticket worth $9 Million was sold at the Village Pantry at 4900 E. Jackson St., Muncie.

The city recently received $665,700 to pay for energy-efficiency upgrades. Examples of how the money will be used:

The family of a 19-year-old woman fatally shot at an under-21 club this summer has filed a wrongful death suit against the club's operator, the property owner and three unknown assailants.

Tanisha L. Young was shot in the head by reckless gunfire on Aug. 2 as she sat in a parked car outside the Twin Cities club, 3100 N. Granville Ave. The club closed days later.

Complete story at: The Star Press

The U.S. Census Bureau, which has begun recruiting the 1.25 million workers it will hire nationally for the 2010 Census, will open eight local offices in Indiana on Nov. 7, including one in Muncie that will serve 18 counties.

Complete story at: The Star Press

The population has declined about 15 percent since 1980, from 76,000 to 65,000. The fall accompanied an exodus of heavy industry and a sharp drop in the city's tax base. Now, as a community, we face the consequences: the inability to pay for the current level of services.

We have two options: raise taxes or shrink the size of the government.

There are two problems with raising taxes. First, a higher tax will cause some people to leave the community. In fact, the people the most able to pay a tax are also the most able to leave. One study estimated that among the wealthy, a 1 percent local tax increase caused a 6-percent decline in population.

Second, and more importantly, Muncie is in the midst of a long-term decline. Any recovery to former glory will take many years and many new industries settling in the city. As a consequence, the city's government must resign itself to a decline in size.

Muncie is shrinking. Raising local taxes can only be a stop gap measure, and will only hasten -- not delay -- the day when the city will be unable to pay its bills. The only solution is letting the city's government shrink with the city itself.

Source: The Star Press - NEAL COLEMAN • Muncie • October 9, 2009

The Indiana Arts Commission chose Muncie to be the host of this year's Governor's Arts Awards Ceremony, which will be held at 8 p.m. Friday at the Cornerstone Center for the Arts.

Terry Bailey, Cornerstone Center for the Arts president and CEO, said she was excited to see final preparations being put together as the event approaches.

The Governor's Arts Awards will be start 4:30 p.m. Friday with an art showcase and will end at 11 p.m. after the awards ceremony. Governor Mitch Daniels will attend the ceremony.

Source: The Star Press & Ball State Daily News

The plan, which is titled Muncie Action Plan (MAP), will be a chance for all of Muncie to get involved in determining what Muncie will look like, according to Mayor Sharon McShurley.

The City is providing funds from Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) and the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant. Ivy Tech Community College-East Central Region (Muncie) is contributing to the project using a $50,000 grant from Ball Brothers Foundation.

Leading the steering committee for MAP will be Dr. George Branam, East Central  Indiana Pathologists, and Virginia Nilles, Director of the Muncie Public Libraries.

“Joining them will be a working committee of 30 persons from across the city,” said Gail Chesterfield, Chancellor of IV Tech’s local campus. “We’ve invited people who we know have a concern for Muncie’s future and who will be eager to guide this planning process.”

Beginning in mid-November, ACP and the steering committee will be conducting community forums, focus groups, and surveys of Muncie residents, as well as people who live and work in the City. The purpose will be to collect ideas and visions that address city land use, economic development, transportation, neighborhood revitalization, gateways, and other vital aspects of community development.

Read complete story at: Muncie Free Press

by: Amanda Junk

Originally published: 9/23/09 at 12:24 AM EST

Ball State Daily News

The Hiatt Farm pumpkin patch and corn maze, dubbed "Mazed and Cornfused", officially opened Saturday to customers looking to fill their fix of fall fun.

For more than three years owner Keith Hiatt and his family have been selling pumpkins on the side of Highway 67 near their Muncie home.

The roadside stand has since made its way onto their property with pumpkins overflowing on a table and varying in size and color.

Despite the location change, each year he is intrigued by people who visit the farm.

"We take the open space for granted. So many people are not associated with the farm or rural anymore," he said. "They're just really tickled to be able to come out and walk through the corn field and the grass."

From start to finish, upkeeping the farm is always a family effort and bonding experience.

Hiatt and his son manage the family's 2,000 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat while wife Linda is in charge of running the maze and its business.

Hiatt's daughters-in-law designed the maze and painted welcome signs while Linda's other son orders pumpkins and chooses what varieties they want to grow.

"It's really a family affair here," Linda said.

To be ready for the fall picking season, a new batch of pumpkin seeds are ordered in February and March and are planted in May and June, Linda said.

Pumpkins on the family's farm range in size from decorative miniature gourds weighing 2 to 5 pounds to standard 15-pound pumpkins best used for carving and pies, she said.

The gourds also vary in color. For the first time this year, the Hiatt patch includes white pumpkins, per the request of a visiting couple to the farm last year.

Linda also has a few pumpkin preservation tips for visitors looking for the perfect gourd.

To preserve its freshness, Linda recommends creating a solution composed of one gallon of water and a tablespoon of bleach and dipping the pumpkin into it.

Drying seeds for eating can then be baked until crunchy.

Even though growing pumpkins is part of the family's fall business, Keith personally doesn't like pumpkins all that much, he said.

"I like to look at them but not eat them," he said.

While the pumpkin patch has spanned 2.5 acres of the family's farm for multiple years, sometimes the yield seems to be much larger, Linda said.

"I always think we're not going to have enough, and we've picked and it looks like we haven't picked at all," she said. "But we always get rid of all of them."

Not too many people stopped by for a tour at this year's opening, Linda said. But she expects business to pick up in October when the weather gets cooler and people get into the spirit of fall, hay rides and mazes.

More people visited the farm compared to previous years, she said.

"Repeat customers knew they had a good time and wanted to come back," she said.

Since opening Mazed and Cornfused, the Hiatts have sold out of pumpkins and have continued to attract a steady crowd of pickers looking for an afternoon agricultural escape. Last season drew in 2,200 customers and grossed around $4,500, both totals higher than the previous year, Linda said.

Keith attributes these numbers to an increased interest in local agritourism, highly consumer-focused types of agriculture.

While agriculture has drifted away from its more traditional roots, a trip to the farm is still a one-on-one way for people to connect with nature, he said.

"Even though it's a commercial enterprise, it's still kind of folksy," he said. "This is kind of a luxury, the pumpkins and coming through here, but people want to do some entertainment for an evening or an afternoon."

Navigating your way

Mazed and Cornfused

Hours:
5-9 p.m. Thursday
5-10 p.m. Friday
noon-10 p.m. Saturday
noon-6 p.m. Sunday

Special Fall Break Hours
Open at 2 a.m. Oct. 15-16, 22-23, 29-30

Admission:
Adults (12 and up): $7
Children 6-12: $5
Ages 5 and under: free

Bean maze for children and other games are free.

Hayrides

Mazed and Cornfused will be offering hayrides during regular business hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Hayrides cost $3 per person. Rides last approximately 30 minutes. Haunted hayrides will be announced later this month.

For more information visit mazedandcornfused.com

For an interactive graphic about types of pumpkins and where to buy them, and more photos from Mazed and Cornfused, go to ballbearingsonline.com

A plan to raise the county's income tax rate seems to be losing steam, thanks in part to Muncie Mayor Sharon McShurley's recent budget tightening.

Complete Story available at: The Star Press

The walk-in medical clinic at Muncie Mall has closed after about two years in operation, and a Ball Memorial Hospital official said the local economy just couldn't support medicine in a retail setting.
 
The mall storefront clinic, which opened in summer 2007 as Cardinal Quick Care, closed at the end of August, said Stacey Nance, mall manager.

Ironically, the closing coincides with the release of a study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, that indicated that people with minor illnesses can get cheaper and just as effective treatment at clinics in retail settings as other health providers.

"We just didn't have enough patients to sustain our business," said Jan Vangets, chief operating officer of Cardinal Health Partners, a division of Ball Memorial Hospital and Clarian Health.

"The economy in Delaware County just didn't support that."

The clinic opened on July 30, 2007 in a storefront at Muncie Mall. Hospital officials hoped it would attract a steady clientele of people seeking treatment for sore throats and colds, ear infections and poison ivy, for example. The clinic had an exterior door so it could be open outside of mall hours.

"The business just didn't build as we hoped it would," Vangets said. "We were really disappointed. A lot of loyal patients did use it. Just not enough. We have a lot of new physicians in the community and those doctors have the capacity to see new patients, so the need for that type of a walk-in just wasn't there."

Nance said she was disappointed to see the clinic close.

"I truly do think it's a great concept," Nance said. "We're sad to see them go, but we understand the business side of these decisions."

In a study released in recent days through the Annals of Internal Medicine, patients in Minnesota found less expensive albeit quality care at retail clinics.

"Retail clinics provide less costly treatment than physician offices or urgent care centers for three common illnesses, with no apparent adverse effect on quality of care or delivery of preventive care," according to the study.

"Quality scores for care of otitis media (ear infection), pharyngitis (sore throat) and urinary tract infection were about the same in retail clinics, physicians offices and urgent care centers," the report noted. "And costs were lower in retail clinics."

Retail clinics -- often in pharmacies -- have been a growing industry in recent years. U.S. News and World Report in 2008 counted 988 clinics in 34 states. One third of Americans live within 10 minutes of a retail clinic, the magazine said.

Source: The Star Press

City council member Linda Gregory envisions a Muncie that by 2011 will operate more like a developing country.

Under Gregory's forecast, growing budget shortfalls would force the city to take drastic actions, including:

Read complete story at The Star Press

You ain't seen nothing yet. For some that grammatically challenged catchphrase might spark a memory.

Cut back in services, part-time city hall building, etc..

Read complete story at : The Star Press

Ivy Tech Community College will announce today that the downtown Fisher Building will be donated to Ivy Tech-Muncie.

Read Complete Story at:  The Star Press

Prairie Creek has gone from a beleaguered facility to a shining example of how local government can and should operate. What an incredible difference a year -- and good leadership -- can make

Read complete story at The Star Press